The Keyhole (KH) satellite system KH-9 (Hexagon) operated between 1971 and 1984. The imagery generated are of historical interest and are expected to support current scientific research on climate change and related fields of inquiry. Almost all of the imagery from this camera was declassified in 2011 as a continuation of Executive Order 12951, the same order that declassified CORONA. A subset of this declassified data was transferred to the U.S. Geological Survey's Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS) Center. Please check the coverage map in EarthExplorer to verify the extent of coverage for the subset of images available from EROS. The available images are primarily over the United States, Antarctica, and the Arctic Circle. The full collection of original film sources are maintained by the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA).

KH-9 acquired photographs of the Earth’s surface with a telescopic camera system and transported the exposed film through the use of recovery capsules. The capsules, or buckets, were de-orbited and retrieved by aircraft while the capsules parachuted to earth. The exposed film was developed and the images were analyzed for a range of military and mapping applications.

The KH-9 program was designed to support mapping requirements and exact positioning of geographical points for the military. The KH-9 panoramic cameras captured high resolution (2-4 feet) and moderate resolution (20-30 feet) terrain images. High resolution images were acquired on 6.5 inch wide variable length film. The moderate resolution terrain camera acquired images that were printed to 9 inch wide variable length film.

Digital Products – High Resolution Scanned Images $30.00 per scene

High performance photogrammetric film scanners are used to create digital products at 7-micron (3,600 dpi) or 14 micron (1,800 dpi) resolution for black-and-white (B/W) images. Color images are limited to 14 micron due to resulting file size. On-demand scanning is available for $30.00 per scene for the subset of duplicate film sources held in the USGS EROS archive.

Declass 3 Image Parameters

Film Size

Micron Size

B/W File Size

Color File Size

6.5 inch x variable length

14 Micron (1,800 dpi)

188 MB (per file*)

565 MB (per file)

7 Micron (3,600 dpi)

725 MB (per file*)

Not available

9 inch x variable length

14 Micron (1,800 dpi)

260 MB (per file*)

780 MB (per file)

7 Micron (3,600 dpi)

1GB (per file*)

Not available

* USGS EROS scans products in overlapping sections and the number of files will vary based on the length of the image. The actual file size may fluctuate due to image data, surrounding metadata, and the addition of the USGS logo.

High Resolution Digital Products are of photogrammetric quality and files are stored in TIFF format. The scanning process does not apply geocorrections.

KH-9 missions

Name

Block

Mission #

LaunchDate

NSSDC IDNORAD#

OtherName

LaunchVehicle

Orbit

DecayDate

KH9-1

I

1201

1971 Jun 15

1971-056A05297

OPS 7809

Titan IIID

184.0 km × 300.0 km

1971 Aug 6

KH9-2

I

1202

1972 Jan 20

1972-002A05769

OPS 1737

Titan IIID

157.0 km × 331.0 km

1972 Feb 9

KH9-3

I

1203

1972 Jul 7

1972-052A06094

OPS 7293

Titan IIID

174.0 km × 251.0 km

1972 Sep 13

KH9-4

I

1204

1972 Oct 10

1972-079A06227

OPS 3814

Titan IIID

160.0 km × 281.0 km

1973 Jan 8

KH9-5

I

1205

1973 Mar 9

1973-014A06382

OPS 8410

Titan IIID

152.0 km × 270.0 km

1973 May 19

KH9-6

I

1206

1973 Jul 13

1973-046A06727

OPS 8261

Titan IIID

156.0 km × 269.0 km

1973 Oct 12

KH9-7

Il

1207

1973 Nov 10

1973-088A06928

OPS 6630

Titan IIID

159.0 km × 275.0 km

1974 Mar 3

KH9-8

Il

1208

1974 Apr 10

1974-020A07242

OPS 6245

Titan IIID

153.0 km × 285.0 km

1974 Jul 28

KH9-9

Il

1209

1974 Oct 29

1974-085A07495

OPS 7122

Titan IIID

162.0 km × 271.0 km

1974 Mar 9

KH9-10

Il

1210

1975 June 8

1975-051A07918

OPS 6381

Titan IIID

157.0 km × 234.0 km

1975 Nov 5

KH9-11

Il

1211

1975 Dec 4

1975-114A08467

OPS 4428

Titan IIID

157.0 km × 234.0 km

1976 Apr 1

KH9-12

Il

1212

1976 Jul 8

1976-065A09006

OPS 4699

Titan IIID

159.0 km × 242.0 km

1976 Dec 3

KH9-13

Ill

1213

1977 Jun 27

1977-056A10111

OPS 4800

Titan IIID

155.0 km × 239.0 km

1977 Dec 3

KH9-14

Ill

1214

1978 Mar 16

1978-029A10733

OPS 0460

Titan IIID

172.0 km × 218.0 km

1978 Sep 1

KH9-15

Ill

1215

1979 Mar 16

1979-025A11305

OPS 3854

Titan IIID

177.0 km × 256.0 km

1979 Sep 2

KH9-16

Ill

1216

1980 Jun 18

1980-052A11850

OPS 3123

Titan IIID

169.0 km × 265.0 km

1981 Mar 6

KH9-17

Ill

1217

1981 May 11

1982-041A13170

OPS 5642

Titan IIID

177.0 km × 262.0 km

1982 Dec 5

KH9-18

Ill

1218

1983 Jun 20

1983-060A14137

OPS 0721

Titan 34D

163.0 km × 224.0 km

1984 Mar 1

KH9-19

lV

1219

1984 Jun 25

1984-065A15063

USA 2

Titan 34D

170.0 km × 230.0 km

1984 Oct 18

KH9-20

lV

1220

1986 Apr 18

1986-F03

launch failed

Titan 34D

–

–

Imagery acquired by the KH-9 mapping camera with a resolution of 20-30 feet were released as part of the Declassified Satellite Imagery 2 collection.

Coverage Maps

Coverage Maps indicating the availability of Declass 3 products are available for download.

Additional Information

Access Data

EarthExplorer can be used to search, preview, and download existing digital copies of Declass 3 data. For all other imagery, an order will need to be placed to scan the film at $30 per frame. The collection is located under the Declassified Data category.

Mathematical calculations based on camera operation and satellite path were used to approximate geographic location. Since the accuracy of the coordinates varies according to the precision of source information, users should inspect the preview image to verify that the area of interest is contained in the selected frame.

Declassified photographs from U.S. intelligence satellites provide an important worldwide addition to the public record of the Earth’s land surface. This imagery was released to the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) and the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) in accordance with Executive Order 12951 on February 23, 1995. The NARA has...

The EarthExplorer (EE) user interface is an online search, discovery, and ordering tool developed by the United States Geological Survey (USGS). EE supports the searching of satellite, aircraft, and other remote sensing inventories through interactive and textual-based query capabilities.